Slicing machine driving mechanism



May 25, 1937. A w. A. VAN BERKEL SLICING MACHINE DRIVING MECHANISM Filed Dec. 12, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l RQQQQWMN W@ May 25, 1937. w. A. VAN BERKEL SLICING MACHINE DRIVING MECHANISM Filed' Dec. 12, 1951 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented May 25, 1937 PATENT OFFIE SLICING MACHINE DRIVING MECHANISM Wilhelmus Adrianus van Berkel, Clarens, Montreux, Switzerland, assignor to U. S. Slicing Machine Company, La Porte, Ind., a corpora tion of Indiana Application December 12, 1931, Serial No. 580,558

In Great Britain April 22, 1931 1 Claim.

The present invention relates to slicing machines, and particularlyV to the driving mechanism for driving the slicing machine knife and carriage. The invention is particularly adapted to be used witha belt drive from a motor, which beltdrives the knife and table or other operative parts of the slicing machine.

One object of this invention is to provide improved means whereby the working parts can be quickly disconnected from the source of power and brought to rest, whereby it is possible to stop the slicing machine parts at any suitable timeinits cycle of operations. i

According to thefinvention, the slicing machine hasa belt tension regulator 4and a brake which are both Aconnected to operating devices, the regulator and brake being operated preferablyin succession, although my invention is not so limited. In the embodiment shown, the movable parts of the machine are driven from a motor but may also be driven from any other source of power by=ia` belt and there is a belt tension regulator which' imparts a tension to the belt and alsomay be moved `away from the belt to remove the tension therein. By this movement, it is obvious that there will be no further driving of the machine parts. Thereafter, the brake is applied to bring the parts to rest immediately at a desired position in spite of their momentum. Alternately, the'brake may be applied simultaneously' with the removal of the belt tension regulator.

Another object of this invention is to use a pulley which is .positively connected to the ma.- chine parts as a drum upon which the brake may act, thereby doing away with a separate brake drum.

Another object of this invention is to provide a devicein which the slicing machine table may be hand driven when the powerdrive is disconnected.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 represents a side elevation of a machine embodying my invention, a part of the casing for the driving Vmechanism being removed for the sake of clearness.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the device shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a detailed view showing the control for the belt tension regulator and brake.

Fig. 4 `is a bottom plan view of the device shown in Fig. 1.

7Fig. 5 is an enlarged detailed view of the brake mechanism shown in Fig. 1, and,

Fig. 6 illustrates a modified arrangement of the device shown in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive The slicing machine comprises the usual base member I, carrying the guides 2, one of which is shown in the drawings and the other of which is in spaced parallel relation directly behind the one shown in the drawings in Fig. 1. The carriage 3 is slidably mounted on the guides 2 and carries the usual feed plate 4 and clamping b-ar 5. The table is reciprocated by means of a crank 6, secured to a stub shaft rotatably mounted in the upper side of the base, and a pitman 8 is connected respectively tothe crank and the under side of the table at 9 and II'I respectively. A bevel gear II, secured to the lower end of the stub shaft 'I, is driven from the shaft I2 by means of a bevel gear I3' secured to the shaft I2 and meshing with' the bevel gear II. The bracket I4, mounted on'the side of the base I, rotatably supports the spindle I5 which carries the knife I6. The parts so far described may be driven by hand by means of the y wheel Il provided with: a handle I8, which fly wheel is securely mounted on the shaft I9. 'Ihe shaft in turn has a bevel gear 20 meshing with the bevel gear onthe shaft The shaft I2 is also provided with a sprocket 2|, and a chain 22 is trained over the sprocket 2| and sprockets 23 and 24 secured respectively to the knife spindle I5 and a shaft 25 rotatably mounted in the bracket I4. 'I'he shaft 25 also has a pulley 26 secured thereto and over this pulley there is trained a belt 2l, the belt being also trained over the pulley 28 on the rotor shaft 29 of a motor 30 secured to one side of the cover 3| secured in turn to the casing 32 carried by the bracket I4, the casing and cover providing an enclosureY for rthe belt pulleys 28 and 26 and associated mechanism.

The belt isappreciably longer than necessary to just pass over the pulleys 28 and 26, and a lever 32 pivoted at 33 has a roller 34 on the end thereof adapted to engage the belt and is normally urged into engagement with the belt by a spring 35 secured at one end to the lever 32, and at the other to a xed pin 36. The other 'end of the lever 32 is connected at 31 'to a rod 38 which extends to the operators end of the machine at the right as viewed in Fig. 1 or 4 and is there pivotally connected at 39 to an arm 40 secured to a pivot 4| rotatably mounted in the bearing bracket 42 secured to the under side of the bracket 43 secured to the side of the base as by means of screws 44. The bracket 43 supports the slice receiving plate 45,

of a well known construction. Since the arm 40 is located beneath the slice receiving plate 45, the shaft 4| is extended to one side of the slice receiving plate as best illustrated in Fig. 2 and is there provided with an arm 46 which is used for rocking the shaft 4|.

The arm 46 has an upwardly extending portion in the shape of a hollow sleeve 41 on which there is slidable an outer operating handle 48. The operating handle has a rod 49 secured thereto at 50 and extending through the sleeve 41. The end of the rod is provided with a detent 5| adapted to be normally urged toward the member 52 formed on the bracket 42`by means of a spring 53 abutting against the detent 5| and the end of the opening in the sleeve 41. Manual pressure on the handle 48 is used to move the detent 5| against the action of the spring.

The member 52 is provided with an abutment surface 54 so that after the operating handle 48 has been used to rock the arm 46 slightly to the left past the position shown in Fig. 3, the detent member 5| will be projected into such a position that if the operator releases his grip on the handle 48, clockwise movement of the arm 46 is prevented by the engagement of the detent 5| with the abutment surface 54.

With the handle in the position shown by full lines in Fig. 3, the lever 32 occupies a position between the dotted and full line positions shown in Fig. 1, and the tension on the belt 21 is relieved, thereby permitting the rotor shaft 29 to rotate without driving the pulley 26. Therefore, the knife and the table are no longer driven by the motor.

It is, however, desirable to stop the table in a predetermined position such as at the operators position where the next substance to be sliced may be readily positioned on the slicing machine table. If the table and knife are permitted to come to rest in the positions in which they would naturally come to rest after the drive to the same has been interrupted, the table would not stop at the proper position, and therefore I provide a brake 55 which is mounted to be moved into engagement with the periphery of the pulley or into engagement with a portion of the belt which is trained over the pulley to thereby stop the rotation of the pulley with the table in the desired position. 'Ihis brake is shown pivotally connected by a link 56 to the bracket I4 and is normally urged away from the belt or pulley by means of springs 51 mounted on pins 58 and given an initial tension away from the belt by means of the pins 59. The springs 51 extend into recesses 6U in the outer periphery of the brake as indicated in Fig. 1.

There is a pulley 6| rotatably mounted near the bottom of the casing 32 and partly projecting through an opening 62 therein, and over this pulley there is trained a cable 63 connected at one end to the brake 55 and at the other to a rocking arm 64, pivotally mounted on the shaft 4|. As is best illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, the movement of the rocking arm 64 is limited by the stationary pin 65 on the bracket 42 and pin 66 securely mounted on the arm 46. Normally the springs 51 tend to draw the lower run of the cable 63 to the left and thereby rock the arm 64 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1, and against the stationary pin 65. In this position, the pin 66 on the arm 46 is out of engagement with the arm 64 as will be clear from an inspection of Fig. 1 in which the pin 46 is concentric with the pivot 39. The rotation of the handle into the position shown in Fig. 3 brings the pin 66 almost into engagement with the arm 64, but the pin 66 will not engage the arm 64 until after the detent 5| has been projected into a position to engage the abutment surface 54. Continued movement of the handle in a clockwise direction will cause the pin 66 to engage the arm 64 and rock the arm 64 about the shaft 4|. This movement causes the brake to be applied due to the cable which connects the arm 64 and the brake 55.

With this arrangement, the movement of the handle 48 first moves the lever 32 into such a position that there is not sufiicient driving tension on the belt 21 to drive the pulley 26, and accordingly the knife and table of the slicing machine are not positively driven. A continued movement of the handle 48 in the same direction applies the brake 55 to the belt which extends about the periphery of the pulley 26. This stops the rotation of the pulley and consequently the reciprocation of the table. As a result, the table may be stopped at practically any desired position along its path of travel.

Fig. 6 shows a modified arrangement in which the cable is used to relieve the pressure of the belt tensioning element upon the belt and in which the brake is of a modified construction. In this form of the invention, similar reference characters refer to the corresponding parts in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive. The belt tension regulator 61 is pivoted at 68 and is connected by means of the cable 69 to an arm such as 40 shown in Fig. 1. A compression spring 10, mounted within telescoping numbers 1I and 12, abuts respectively against the members 13 xed to the bracket I4 and the lower end of the belt tension regulator 61 to normally urge the belt tension regulator in a clockwise direction. The belt tension regulator is released in the same manner as in Figs: 1 to 5 inclusive.

The brake comprises a brake shoe 14 pivoted at 15 to a lever 16 which in turn is pivoted at 11 to the bracket I4. A cable 18, connected to the end of the lever opposite that end of the lever to which the brake is attached, is trained over a pulley 19 and is connected to an arm similar to 64 shown in the first embodiment of this invention, A flat spring 80, secured at 8| to the bracket |4, normally urges the brake shoe away from the pulley 26. It will be noted that the brake shoe is weighted at the right hand end thereof and carries a pin 82 which engages a limit stop 83 on the lever 16, thus limiting the clockwise movement of the brake and preventing engagement of the brake with the periphery of the pulley. It will be noted that in this form of the invention, the brake engages the pulley directly instead of acting through the belt which drives the pulley as in the first embodiment described.

It will thus be seen that when the power is disconnected, the brake may be applied or ordinarily if it is not desired to use the brake, the table may be reciprocated by hand merely by rotating the ily wheel |1.

If desired, the levers 46 and 64 need not be made separate but may be made as a single lever positively connected to both the brake and the belt tension regulator so that as the belt tension regulator is released, the brake is simultaneously applied, although it is preferable that the brake be applied after the release of the belt tension regulator.

Obviously, other changes can be made in the particular construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of this invention, and therefore, I do not wish to be limited except in the manner hereinafter specified in the claim.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to obtain by Letters Patent is:

In a slicing machine, a power driven member, a drivable member adapted to set in motion the slicing machine, a loose belt capable of forming a driving connection between the power driven member and theldrivable member, a spring actuated roller member engageable with said belt adapted to be springingly held against said belt to take up the slack therein and enforce the driving connection formed thereby between the power driven member and the drivable member, brake means engageable with said drivable member, said brake means being springingly held out of engagement therewith, control means operatively connected to said roller means whereby to move said roller means out of engagement with the belt whereby to loosensaid belt andcause the driving action thereof to cease, said control means comprising a shaft pivotally mounted in the frame of the slicing machine, handle means rigidly mounted to said shaft, said means so operating that the roller means will be moved out of engagement with the belt during a predetermined movement of the handle through a portion of its arcuate travel, brake control means freely mounted on said shaft, abutment means rigidly mounted on said shaft and adapted to engage the freely mounted brake control means during a portion of its arcuate travel when the shaft is rotated, said abutment means being so mounted on the shaft in juxtaposition to the handle means that it will only engage the brake control means after the handle has completely traversed that portion of its arcuate travel which produces releasing of the roller means, detent means located in juxtaposition to the handle means, and spring actuated means on the handle means adapted to selectively engage the detent means, being so placed with reference to the handle that it Will cooperate with the spring operated means on the handle to hold the handle means at that point'of its arcuate travel at which the roller means is completely disengaged from the belt and is in a position at which the abutment means has not yet engaged the brake control means.

WILHELMUS ADRIANUS VAN BERKEL. 

